


Ducks

by wavewright62



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Gen, I'm Sorry, Inspired by The Old Stone Bridge print, Just a Dream?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 11:12:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10097225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wavewright62/pseuds/wavewright62
Summary: The thing about ducks is that on the surface, they glide serenely, but underneath their feet are paddling away madly.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the Old Stone Bridge illustration of the crew that closed out Book 1, as seen on [page 276](http://www.sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=276) and also as the framing image on the Archive.
> 
> This is my contribution representing the letter D in the Alphabet Soup challenge.

The stream wasn't very wide, just wide enough to leap over from one snowy bank to the next. They paddled unconcernedly up the middle, one drake and one duck, but veered around occasional unseen obstacles under the surface. Soon the stream waters would rise with snow melt, and perhaps these two would produce a clutch of eggs. Then in the spring the duck would swim up and down this stream with her ducklings behind her. The thing about ducks was that on the surface, they glided serenely, but underneath their feet were paddling away madly. Lalli could see down into the water from his perch, down below the surface, down to the things on the bottom of the stream that required his vigilance. A small piece of the concrete crumbled out from between the stones under his chin, and fell into the water below. None of the things on the bottom of the stream stirred. Or was that a trick of the reflections from the waters of the spirit world? Lalli kept his senses on alert.

\-------------

This stream wound through some pretty flat country. Flat flat flat country, flatter than a pancake, just enough rises in the land to fool you into thinking it was going somewhere, but then not really. Then there were these two ducks, just paddling along without a care in the world. The thing about ducks was that on the surface, they glided serenely, but underneath their feet were paddling away madly. Just like… "Hey Mikkel," Sigrun called over her shoulder as she hoisted a leg like she was going over the side of the bridge, "check me out, I'm going to jump down and nab one of these ducks for dinner, do you dare me?" He had his eyes closed and was not looking at her.

\--------------

Mikkel could see down into the water from his perch, past the shoulders of the two young men, down to the things on the bottom of the stream. There had been other young men and women, and there had been the things which were now at the bottom of the stream, now unmoving. Two ducks glided over top, but their paddling disturbed the surface. The thing about ducks was that on the surface, they glided serenely, but underneath their feet were paddling away madly. They threw reflections of the snowy banks around the surface of the stream, hiding the things on the bottom from view, but only temporarily. He told himself the two young men bending over the railing would not be joining their fellows on the bottom of the stream, but it was still all he could see when the ducks passed. He could see it even if he closed his eyes. But when he closed his eyes, he could see the names of the fallen carved on the gates. Would his name join theirs? No one had recorded the names of the others, the ones now in the water.

\-------------------

The snowy landscape was calm, the quiet stream meandered through the gentle countryside. It was that quiet and hushed part of winter, when not much was stirring other than the birds. There were two ducks gliding lazily up the stream. There was this convenient picturesque bridge across the stream, and they all got out to have a look at the ducks for some reason. The thing about ducks was that on the surface, they glided serenely, but underneath their feet were paddling away madly. It was sort of like this bridge, which looked solid enough at first glance, but on closer inspection it looked like it would crumble out from underneath them any second, and dump them all into the water. Emil didn't trust any of this, and when he sat on the bridge he could see down past the ducks into the water, down to the things at the bottom of the stream. Why were they all out here anyway, and why did it look like Lalli and Reynir and the cat were reaching out to touch those things in the water?

\-------------

Ducks were good eating, if you could snare them. These were just swimming around unconcernedly, not wary like the ducks at home. The thing about ducks was that on the surface, they glided serenely, but underneath their feet were paddling away madly. Reynir knew that one false move and they could produce sudden fast evasive maneuvers and then take sudden flight away. But these ducks just glided lazily past his outstretched fingers, taunting him with how close and slow they appeared. His mouth was watering with the idea of a duck dinner.

\-----------

Tuuri looked appreciatively around her, at the landscape, the desolate snowy countryside, the beautiful stream. She breathed the crisp winter air, and could just smell the lichen encrusting the bridge. Two ducks were paddling up the middle of the stream, dodging a little over small eddies in the water. The thing about ducks was that on the surface, they glided serenely, but underneath their feet were paddling away madly. Tuuri could see them swimming around the… what _were_ those things in the water? They were, they were – trolls? They were the skeletons of trolls, tangles of troll skeleton things at the bottom of the stream. She looked up alarmed, and suddenly realised that they were all there for some reason, on this bridge over those things, the whole crew was there. Mikkel was standing back with his arms crossed, Sigrun was joking around like she was going to jump off the bridge, and she had her leg over the railing already. Lalli was draped over the middle of the railing like he was going to be sick again. Emil had his back to her. Reynir was reaching down toward the things in the water. Why was he out here too? She looked in the stream again, and saw the trolls with their long necks and snapping jaws, like the one that… where was her mask? She wasn't wearing her mask. No one was looking at her, no one noticed her standing there, without her mask! _Where was Reynir's mask?_

Tuuri awoke with a start. The tank was dark, and filled with the sound of her fellow crewmates sleeping. Odd, it was hot in here tonight. She thought of those she would leave behind. She would not let them see her panic. She thought of the ducks on the stream, gliding serenely, but underneath their feet were paddling away madly.


End file.
